Die Jewish Renaissance Movement in Poland wurde 2007 von der israelischen Künstlerin Yael Bartana gegründet. Sie fordert die Rückkehr von 3.300.000 Jüd_innen nach Polen, wo die jüdische Community nahezu vollständig ausgelöscht wurde. Die Bewegung ist zugleich eine Antwort auf das Scheitern alter Utopien. Ziel des ersten Bewegungs-Kongresses im Rahmen der → 7. Berlin Biennale ist es, eine reale Aktions-Plattform zu schaffen und gemeinsam einen Plan für die Zukunft zu erstellen. Ausgangspunkt des dreitägigen Kongresses (11.–13. Mai 2012) im → Hebbel am Ufer (HAU 1) ist ein Brief des verstorbenen Anführers der Bewegung, Sławomir Sierakowski, der nach seiner Ermordung aufgefunden wurde:
To my friends and comrades,
I can feel that I might be gone soon, but I know that you won’t run out of strength and imagination to change the world. Ties and imagination are what we need to enable the social change that we promised ourselves when we summoned 3.3 million Jews to return to Poland. What we want is to create a world in which such a plan would not simply be dismissed as utopian. Utopia for us seems to be the conviction that there are no alternatives to the existing world.
In today’s world, we are still ruled by fear for our safety and by shame about getting involved. Man is still a wolf to his fellow man, since no tale of a better world engages him more than his own private interest. If we want to overcome the globalized «state of nature» in which we live, we should create social ties. Because only the trust that we have for each other will allow us to get involved in building a better world beyond our personal affairs.
I had a dream about what should be changed in Poland. But we need more dreams and imagination to change Europe and the Middle East. And I can promise you that these changes will be big and difficult to carry out. That’s why I’m asking all of you to think about them together. Argue, debate, and choose those that will best serve our cause. The cause of the Jewish Renaissance Movement in Poland (JRMIP)!
I know that if you get together and trust each other, you will be able to come up with exciting suggestions and give a democratic mandate to our dreams.
Each and every one of us is responsible for social change!
Here is my proposal for changes in Poland:
1. Polish citizenship to all immigrants!
2. Reintegration tax to cover the costs of moving 3.3 million Jews to Poland!
3. Hebrew as the second official language in Poland!
4. Dismissal notice of the Polish state concerning the concordat with the Vatican state – each religious institution should act on the same level!
5. Minorities House instead of Senate in Polish Parliament!
Once again I wish you ties and imagination!
… and Europe will be stunned!
Sławomir Sierakowski
Das Programm, eine Liste der Delegierten sowie die Dokumentation der Tagung findet sich auf der Website der → Jewish Renaissance Movement in Poland.